Il-86 | 1991

Airline - Moscavia
Aircraft - Ilyushin Il-86 | RA-86054
Delivered to Sovnaravia, 1981
'Sold' to Moscavia, 1991
Crashed at New York JFK, 1994
Livery - Standard 1991
Country - Russian Federation

The only widebody in Moscavia's fleet at the time of its founding in 1991 was the Ilyushin Il-86, of which Oleg Baghdassarian was able to acquire nine. They were left in the original Sovnaravia interior setup, with the only change being the reupholstering of seats. The capacity of all nine in the fleet was 20 First and 301 Economy, for a total of 321 passengers. Initially, these were used for long-haul domestic flights, like Moscow to Irkutsk, or Vladivostok (via Novosibirsk, due to the Il-86s pathetic range for a widebody, and therefore inability to fly the route directly). In late 1991, Moscavia became the first carrier to recognize the emerging Russian tourist market and harness the purchasing power of millions of Russians who were suddenly able to leave their country and go on holiday for the first time in their lives. These tourists were eager to travel to sunny beach destinations (of which Russia itself only had one to offer - Sochi) and Moscavia gave them what they wanted, starting flights to Antalya and Dubai in December 1991, just in time for the country-wide holiday season. The Il-86 was used to inaugurate both these routes. In 1992 this holiday flight operation was expanded massively, with flights to Malaga, Mallorca, Larnaca, Cairo, Sharm el-Sheikh, and Male (as a tag-on to the Dubai route, due to range issues). By carefully picking destinations, then partnering with local hotels as well as both Russian and local package tour operators, Moscavia essentially picked which cities around the globe would become popular with Russian holidaymakers, permanently shaping the industry.

The tourist market was, however, just one of Baghdassarian's side-hustles. His main goal had always been flights to America, and on July 4th, 1992 (the date specifically selected as a tribute to Independence Day and therefore the country Moscavia was beginning flights to) this goal was accomplished. Moscavia flight 1, from Domodedovo to New York JFK via Shannon was operated by one of the airline's Il-86s, flying back the same day, and launching the carrier into a new era of transatlantic operations, less than a year and a half after its founding. Flights to Miami began in October 1992, and Washington DC in March 1993. These flights operated with significant weight restrictions (especially the Miami ones) as the 'maximum payload' range of the Il-86 was not long enough to get to any North American destination from Shannon. However, on June 19th, 1994, the aircraft shown here - RA-86054 - crashed on departure from New York due to catastrophic engine failure during the takeoff roll. Heroic actions by the flight crew saved over half the passengers, however the accident resulted in the suspension of transatlantic Il-86 operations and caused the FAA to ban the type from US airspace. It was also a major blow to the airline's reputation, and led to a major internal investigation to root out maintenance issues. When the cause of the accident was found and fixes implemented on other aircraft in the fleet, Moscavia's Il-86s returned to service, but no longer to the US.